Introduction to political science research
Eefje Steenvoorden (part I & II)
Gijs Schumacher (part III)
ipres-pol@uva.nl
Lecture 1
Political science research can be used:
- To make sense of political phenomena
- To advise policy, based on scientific research
- To nuance and contextualize
- To problematize
IPRes will teach you to:
1. How to conduct research yourself
2. Judge the quality of scientific research of others
Learning scientific methods matters – in many ways
As a student:
- Successfully obtain your academic degree
As a professional
- Evaluate research by others critically (reports, policies)
- Conduct research yourself
As a citizen
- Identify disinformation
- Critically evaluate decision-making
- Protect our democracy
Research methods: tools of scientists
Which method did you use in Research project 1?
- Surveys
- Interviews
- Focus groups
- Participant observation
- Text analysis
- Experiments
- Historical research
Social science easy?
Findings on the USA Soldiers (Lazarsfeld, 1949)
- Better educated men showed more psycho-neurotic symptoms than those with less
education. (The mental instability of the intellectual as compared to the more
impassive psychology of the-man-in-the- street has often been commented on.)
- Men from rural backgrounds were usually in better spirits during their Army life than
soldiers from city backgrounds. (After all, they are more accustomed to hardships.)
, - Southern soldiers were better able to stand the climate in the hot South Sea Islands
than Northern soldiers (of course, Southerners are more accustomed to hot
weather).
Social science ≠ common sense!
“Since every kind of human reaction is conceivable, it is of great importance to know
which reactions actually occur most frequently and under what conditions; only then
will a more advanced social science develop” (Lazaersfeld, 1949)
Social science versus natural science (Lazarsfeld, 1949)
- “That bodies fall to the ground, that things are hot or cold, that iron becomes rusty,
are all immediately obvious.”
- But: understanding why people do what they do, not so much
- “The world of social events is much less ‘visible’ than the realm of nature.”
Scientific versus political/public statements
Scientific debate: stricter rules of the game
- All scientific statements require a reference in the text: (Easton, 1965)
- Which indicates where you base that statement on
What does scientific mean?
- Providing knowledge on (regularities in) the world
- Through systematic and transparent inquiry
- Quality and trustworthiness of findings established by scientific methods
- Each scientific method: specific rules and quality criteria
o If you want to be taken seriously, you need to follow the rules
Learning objective IPRes: the rules of scientific methods
- Scientists use and build on the findings of others (use what is already out there)
- Therefore, crucial that those findings are trustworthy
- Research methods are the scientific ‘rules of the game’
o Research: guidance
o Reader: assess quality & trustworthiness
Political science’ central aims:
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